Internet Speak: The Evolution Of Language On The Internet

3051 words - 12 pages

Internet Speak: The Evolution of Language on the Internet

People everywhere with text message cell phones and online chat services are taking part in the evolution of language on the Internet. To the uninitiated this Internet lingo, or Internet Speak, can look like a completely different and utterly incomprehensible language. Some people claim it is a corruption or a decay of the English language, citing the notorious lack of capitals and proper punctuation or spelling. The truth about Internet Speak is that it is an outgrowth of English. It allows the people who use it a great deal of personal freedom, within the established language, to determine how their speech patterns will reflect their personality. Whereas in mainstream English one has the choice of whether or not to use certain words, a person who uses Internet Speak to communicate online has the choice of a wide range of modified syntax and grammar patterns. This Internet language differs both from person to person and from one online community to the next. It is constantly growing and changing in ways determined by those who use it to communicate. As a continuously developing form of communication the language of the Internet tends to grow from its pre-Internet roots to fit the needs of those who use it, causing Internet Speak to evolve to emphasize personalization, community identity, ease of use, and an emulation of the way spoken language is used in face to face communication.

In order to discuss how something is evolving it is necessary to first look at the roots from which it came. It is thus necessary to look at both the history of the Internet itself and of several forms of communication that predate the Internet before discussing Internet Speak. Looking back before the Internet as we know it today came into common public usage one can find roots of Internet Speak in dozens of communication technologies such as telegrams, telephones, and radios. One example with some of the clearest correlations with Internet Speak is CB radio. CB, or citizen’s band, radio is a range of frequencies set apart for general civilian use. While it used to be much more prevalent, nowadays CB is mainly used in remote areas, where cell phone reception may not be reliable, and by dispatchers, cabbies, and long distance truckers. As recently as the eighties cabbies used CB radio as their connection to a safety net of fellow drivers, as in the case of cab drivers in Chicago who used CB to recover stolen cabs and call for help subduing rowdy passengers (Lux). CB has many striking similarities to Internet Speak, most prominently the use of handles and jargon. The screen names which promote personalization and obscure acronyms that promote a definite sense of community make up some of the integral parts of Internet Speak. The various precursors of Internet Speak were present even long before the advent of instant messaging and email. It flourishes in the open arena of cyberspace, it was not born there....

Find Another Essay On Internet Speak: The Evolution of Language on the Internet

991 words - 4 pages
replacement of Internet slangs with formal language is impossible. In conclusion, Internet slangs will be widely used mostly in the cyber world because of the communication style of citizens. Therefore, formal language should always be the main stream of communication.
4. Analysis
As people use Internet slangs more often nowadays, it spreads all over the world in a massive way. For example, people use Internet slangs when texting, on social

990 words - 4 pages
Invasion of Privacy on the Internet
Invasion of privacy is a serious issue concerning the Internet, as e-mails can be read if not encrypted, and cookies can track a user and store personal information. Lack of privacy policies and employee monitoring threatens security also. Individuals should have the right to protect themselves as much as possible from privacy invasion and shouldn't have to give in to lowered standards of safety

2413 words - 10 pages
Ethics on the Internet1. IntroductionAs the computer era evolves each day, our society is gradually forming into a gigantic chain through the increasing use of the Internet. Human beings interact with each other every day by using the Net. Just as ethics evolve as human societies grow and change, so similar ethical questions are raised during the evolution of this global electronic community.How can ethics be defined? They are our moral code

578 words - 2 pages
, and there are industries under genuine threat from the Internet e.g. the impact of the Internet on high-street music sales.Yet clearly not all business is suitable to be conducted over the Internet. For example, I cannot get my car fixed without taking it to a mechanic. However, there is often scope for the Internet to play in the 'value chain' process - e.g. my mechanic could buy discounted spares over the Internet. The short answer to the

1591 words - 6 pages
when companies get to greedy and want to know every thing about you, and your life. If it weren&#8217;t for EPIC, and the government getting involved in privacy issues, Intel would have its way on what ever they want, and we would have internet sites looking us up every day breaking our personal privacy.
Almost every one that has been on the Internet or that uses e-mail has heard of hacking. Hacking is very

1483 words - 6 pages
Journalism on the Internet
The common forms of media in today's world each have both advantages and
disadvantages. The Internet has been around for an almost equal amount of time
as most of them, but only recently has it become a popular way of retrieving
information. The Internet takes the best of all other medium and combines them
into a very unique form. The Internet is the best way to retrieve information.
This combination of paper

1320 words - 5 pages
Privacy is mentioned in the Bill of Rights, but in which amendment does privacy on the Internet fall. In the website “The Right of Privacy” it says that “The U.S. Constitution contains no express right to privacy” (n. pag.). Freedom of religion is given to us in the First Amendment. The Fourth Amendment protects you from searches and seizures unless the officials possess a warrant. The Fifth Amendment gives us the right to interpret the first

1718 words - 7 pages
Pornography on the Internet
The Internet is a method of communication and a source of information that is becoming popular among those who are interested in the information superhighway. The problem with this world we know as Cyberspace, the ‘Net, or the Web is that some of this information, including pornographical material and hate literature, is being accessible to minors.
Did you know that 83.5% of the images available on the Internet

589 words - 2 pages
Have you ever been searching for something on the Internet and clicked on an innocent looking link and been sent to some pornographic site? This happens more times than most people realize. Many times dead links or incorrect addresses will automatically direct you to a pornographic site. The way that pornography on the Internet is accessed needs to be changed, so it is not accidentally opened.There is a lot of controversy over whether

892 words - 4 pages
Five years after the first world wide web was launched at the end of 1991, The Internet has become very popular in the United States. Although President Clinton already signed the 1996 Telecommunication ActI on Thursday Feb 8, 1996, the censorship issue on the net still remains unresolved. In fact, censorship in cyberspace is unconscionable and impossible. Trying to censor the Internet its problematic because the net is an international issue

2258 words - 9 pages
Privacy on the Internet
In this new era of the Internet, most people use the Internet to acquire information of one kind or other. But what these people are not aware of is that the Internet is collecting information about them. Every time we get onto the Internet there might be a compromise of privacy of our personal information. The information flows both ways. With every clock of the mouse on a hyperlink, or an addition to the mailing

Similar Essays

1422 words - 6 pages
The Evolution of TCPIP and The Internet
The Evolution of TCP/IP (and the Internet)
While the TCP/IP protocols and the Internet are different, their evolution are most definitely parallel. This section will discuss some of the history.
Prior to the 1960s, what little computer communication existed comprised simple text and binary data, carried by the most common telecommunications network technology of the day; namely, circuit switching

789 words - 4 pages
Throughout the history of civilization, a new medium of linguistic communication has always brought significant changes in our way of communication as well. Such media are printing in the fifteen century, telegraph and telephone in the nineteen century, and finally television and the internet in the twentieth century. However, the sheer scale and the significance of the Internet have in sociolinguistic and stylistic complexity of the language is

774 words - 3 pages
are then directly joined to other computer users at there own will for a small connection fee per month. The connection conveniently includes unlimited access to over a million web sites twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There are many reasons why the Internet is important these reasons include: The net adapts to damage and error, data travels at 2/3 the speed of light on copper and fiber, the internet provides the same functionality to

3071 words - 12 pages
------------------------------------------------------------------------Brief Introduction to IPv4The Internet Protocol is the glue that holds together modern computer networks. IP specifies the way that messages are sent from computer to computer; it essentially defines a common "language" that is spoken by every computer stationed on the Internet.On the Internet, the connections between computers are shared by all of the conversations. Data is sent in blocks of characters called datagram, or more